For the Record: Socialized Health Care - By Taylor Grin

Taylor Grin contributes to The
Skewed Review, and his work
is originally published on his
blog at tmgrin.wordpress.com.

THE SKEWED REVIEW | NEWS & POLITICS | TAYLOR GRIN'S BLOG

So, Obama’s Health Care plan more or less passed through the Supreme Court. Cue the liberal applause and the conservative hiss.

I’m not satisfied with this legislation, though I’ll take it since it’s there. A flat tire with a patch is better than leaving the hole, but what we really need is a new tire.

Because I get in discussions about health care all the time, I just want to get this on the record. This is how I feel about heath care in America.

Firstly, because the state covers costs of the sick, especially later in their life, through Medicaid, Medicare and other programs it has a compelling state interest in reducing the costs of these later life treatments.

Conversely, because insurance companies have a compelling interest in increasing profits, and because their product is medical treatment, they have a compelling interest in keeping people dependent on treatment.

A government program dedicated to healthcare would thus, in the interests of lowering costs, be inclined to prevent and cure illness rather than simply treat symptoms. The government program as it stands alleviates the issues inherent to our healthcare system but does nothing to cure them. Funny that.

Conservatives are frustrated because they feel they should have the right to opt out of healthcare, or that government has no business “requiring” someone to purchase a service. This argument is entirely wrongheaded. Healthcare shouldn’t be a service, it should be a right.

“But how will we pay for it?” cries the libertarian. Here is how: The increased productivity and reduced stress of an entire populace who can treat illness without the risk of medical bills becoming an albatross around their neck. Imagine your workers taking a day off to rest off a cold, and coming back productive, rather than them coming into work sick, underperforming, and getting everyone else sick. What sounds better, one worker taking a sick day, or the whole office underperforming for a week?

This small-scale example expands to the large scale. When we treat pour sick immediately, they’ll grow into old age healthy, staying more productive longer. We know our lifestyle is unsustainably unhealthy, but we haven’t fixed the problem because there’s too much profit to be had in treating the symptoms.

Profit needs to be taken out of the picture.

The last rebuttal I often get is, “But government programs are bloated, and cost the taxpayer too much.”

Sure, I’ll even provide an example in your favor: Road repair. If you live in the West, you know that road repair happens constantly. It’s impossible in Utah to pass through SLC 9 months out of the year without being slowed by road repair. The workers string out the project as long as possible to get paid more.

This isn’t an issue of road repair being unnecessary, or the state racking up bills. This is a prime example of what happens when profit-driven companies get state contracts to perform a state task. This is what business corruption does to a compelling state goal.

Take business out of the equation, and a state would employ workers to get the job done as soon as possible, to reduce cost, not bring it up. The same goes with health care.

We got a lot of good done in the ’40s and ’50s, because the state handled state tasks. As business got involved the paradigm shifted from cost-saving-driven to profit-driven, with the taxpayer holding the bil.

Final thought, for all of you Christian conservatives: Do you think Jesus would have argued for the poor to have the right not to get healthcare? The fact that you rally against healing the sick is in direct contradiction with the basic premise of your religion. Matthew 19:21 for those of you who’ve not paid attention in bible class: “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

I’m pretty sure there’s a verse in there too about rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s as well.

There is more at stake to this than simple political squabbling though. Aren’t we trying to make a better world for our children, not a worse one. Forget the Fox News talking points for a minute.

If it cost you a little bit more a month to know that you, your family and your neighbors would be safe when sick or hurt, wouldn’t you do it? Wouldn’t you want someone to do that for you?

What do you think?